


Rehabilitation

by DiaHonkers



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Brief Mention of Blood, Comfort, Crying, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fear, Flashbacks, Hurt/Comfort, Idiots in Love, Nightmares, PTSD attack, Post-Canon, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Triggers, Zine: Blossoming - A Fullmetal Alchemist Fanzine
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-08
Updated: 2020-06-11
Packaged: 2021-03-03 18:54:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24610390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DiaHonkers/pseuds/DiaHonkers
Summary: Edward Elric and Winry Rockbell have been through a lot in their lives. Sometimes, those memories come back to haunt them. Luckily, they have each other to help them get through these moments.Piece from Blossoming: A Fullmetal Alchemist fanzine
Relationships: Edward Elric & Winry Rockbell, Edward Elric/Winry Rockbell
Comments: 14
Kudos: 42





	1. You're safe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Edward has a PTSD attack. Winry helps him through it.

Sweet hums came from Winry's lips as she stirred a large pot of stew. She was cooking her grandmother's recipe - her husband’s favorite.

“Dinner’s almost done!” She called from the other room, “Can you set the table for me? I’m putting the cookies in the oven.”

“Yeah” Ed pushed himself up from the couch and into their small kitchen.

He entered to see his wife putting on red oven mitts. He smirked and plucked one of them out of her hands.

“Ed! Give that back!” she said as he held the mitt over his head.

“What? Are you too small to reach it?” he said snarkily.

“Shut up!” she jumped and reached it, “You’re not _that_ tall. Stop acting like it.”

“Who’re you calling small!?”

“You!”

“I-”

Winry groaned, “Alright, Ed, we’re not doing this right now. Just get the stuff and go set the table.

“Fine…” he muttered. He grabbed the spoons and napkins from the drawer and reached towards the cabinets above Winry to get the bowls.

“Wait! Ed! Watch out!”

**_Bang_ **

As Winry had picked the tray of cookies up, Ed had reached over and bumped into her; the tray slipped out of her hands and crashed to the ground.

Without hesitation, Edward yanked his wife behind him and assumed a fighting stance. His body was stiff with anxiety, his golden eyes scanning the room for danger.

“Ed…?” Winry said standing up, Ed yanking her arm had made her tumble to the ground, luckily unhurt.

Ed stood frightened and stiff in the middle of the room. She slowly made her way over and wrapped her arms around her husband's tense body in an attempt to calm him down.

Unfortunately, that had the exact opposite effect of what she wanted.

Edward jumped at her touch and yanked her off of him, jumping back in the process. The force sent both him and Winry flying backward.

Winry slammed into the kitchen wall, pots and decorations falling to the ground. She sat slumped with a pained expression painted upon her face. She looked up before the feeling of pain was replaced by fear.

Her husband stared forward in a trance. His usual soft, golden eyes were wild. Empty. He breathed as if he had just run a marathon and his fists balled so tightly that she could see blood beginning to leak out of his veins.

The fright she felt wasn’t because of Ed. She knows he would never hurt her - never _purposely_ hurt her. She was scared for him. 

His body was stiff, like it was made entirely out of Automail. He looked as if he was on guard, waiting for something to happen. But mostly, he looked frightened - terrified.

Winry slowly stood up. She’d hit the wall hard, but nothing was broken. She didn’t hit her head or begin to bleed, the pain was only from the impact.

“Edward…” She said in a tone as soft as she possibly could speak. She halted as his wild gaze shot in her direction. He looked as if he was about to attack - as if she were his enemy.

“Edward, whatever you’re seeing right now isn’t real. Whatever you think that’s happening right now isn’t true. You’re safe. You’re at home. You’re in Resembool, with me. Can you take some deep breaths for me?” She slowly moved forward with her hands raised in front of her.

The muscles in his face began to move ever so slightly as he heard her voice. He began to come out of whatever he was experiencing. His breaths remained fast but were visibly slowing down. His eyes were still filled with terror, but there was recognition in them.

“You’re doing good,” She was right in front of him, “Can I touch you?”

With wide eyes and a stiff head, he nodded.

This time, when she wrapped her arms around him, he melted. He slowly brought his arms around her and hugged her back. He nuzzled his head in the crook of her neck. The familiar scent of her shampoo made him relax further.

“It’s going to be alright. You’re here with me. Try to breathe with me. In and out. It’s alright. You’re safe” She whispered in his ear. Their breaths synced and Winry gently took the lead, coaxing her husband to the floor.

She ran her fingers through her husband’s long unbraided golden hair. As she combed it with her fingers, she began to braid it. Soft ‘shhh’s filled the air as Ed began to relax in her arms.

They stayed like that for a while; She didn’t have any idea how long and frankly, didn’t care. She had seen her husband have flashbacks and panic attacks before, but it rarely was this bad. She did extensive research on how to properly help him. He’d seen things she couldn’t imagine - things that would occur in her nightmares. Her husband’s safety and happiness was the most important thing to her. She would be there for him no matter what.

After so long, she began to think that he had fallen asleep nestled in her neck. She pulled away slowly as to not wake him, but didn’t get very far before his arms locked, begging for her to stay.

She was startled for a moment before relaxing back against him.

“I’m sorry,” he finally spoke in a whisper, barely heard.

“It’s alright. I’m not mad,” She rested her head on his shoulder and placed a kiss on his neck, “I just want you to be alright.”

“Mm”

“Do you want to talk about it?” Winry offered.

“....” Ed paused for a moment, “In a bit,”

“That’s alright. Don’t force yourself. Take your time, I’m here to listen whenever you need.”

Ed further pulled his wife closer to him. She let out a light peep and Ed immediately let go and pushed her back, both arms on her shoulders.

“Are you alright?” He asked extremely worried.

“Yeah, my back just hurts a bit.”

Guilt washed over Ed’s face and he looked to the ground.

He’d hurt her.

He’d hurt the one person he swore he’d never hurt.

“Edward,” her ever so sweet voice sung, “stop that.”

“Stop what?” he looked up, barely meeting her eyes.

“I’m not stupid. You did the same thing with your brother. You’re blaming yourself,”

“...But I hurt you…”

“And I’m alright”

Winry cupped his face in her hands and made him look at her.

“Stop thinking like that. It’s not your fault, I don’t blame you in the slightest.”

“But-”

“No. No ‘But I hurt you! It’s my fault! I did it!’. I don’t want to hear that. I know that you didn’t mean to. I know you didn’t do it on purpose.”

Edward’s face softened as he smiled. He truly didn’t deserve her.

“I’m sorry…”

A finger shoved itself up against his lips.

“I said I didn’t want to hear it,” She quirked a smile, “I’m alright. I’ll live. My biggest concern is you right now,”

Ed’s smile quickly faded and he rested himself on her shoulder again, “I didn’t mean to react like that,” he mumbled quietly, “Even though I know I don’t have to be, I’m just instinctively always on guard. I _know_ that I’m safe here, it’s just,” he paused for a moment, “Scary”.

“I know that,” Winry ran her hand across Ed’s back in circles, “It’s not uncommon for people who’ve been in the military to react like that. Not to mention that you grew up that way.”

Ed closed his eyes and further buried himself in Winry’s neck, “I know that. It just makes me feel...not normal.”

Winry pushed back slowly and looked at him right in the eyes. She unwrapped his hands from around her and held them delicately in her hands. His left hand calloused from years of wear and tear, while his right was softer, like a child’s.

“Ed,” She smirked, “You’ve _never_ been normal. And I don’t mean the whole ‘youngest State Alchemist ever’ stuff, I mean from when we were kids. I mean, come on, what normal kid breaks into their neighbor’s farm to ride a sheep?”

Ed blushed and turned his head, “Shut up…”

“Not to mention that you were capable of and understood Alchemy when you were 4.”

Winry took a breath, “Edward Elric,” His name brought his attention back to her. They made eye contact and she smiled, “You have never in your life been a ‘normal person’. Does the ‘youngest state alchemist’ thing contribute to that? Yeah! It does! But my point is; you’ve never been normal and you never will be. And that’s why I love you.”

Edward’s face flushed immediately. Winry’s face was red too, but instead, she planted a kiss on his lips, making him even more flustered.

“Do you need to talk more?” She said checking on him. She hadn’t meant to interrupt like that, it was rare for him to really open up.

“No,” he shook his head, “I feel a bit better now,” He stood up amongst the cluttered kitchen. He reached out his hand to help his wife up, “I’m just a bit exhausted, that’s all.”

“I’ll save the stew for later then.” She said as she took his hand, “You should lay down.”

His eyes shot open at the mention of their dinner.

“No!” I mean, I can stay up to eat…” He twiddled his fingers and smiled lightly.

“Alright,” she said smiling at her husband, “let me just heat it back up. It probably got cold.”

She went stepped over the mess on the floor and made her way to the oven.

“Go sit down. It’ll be ready in a moment,” she looked back and smiled.

“But what about the mess?” He asked.

“Don’t worry about it. We’ll get it later.”

Ed’s smile grew and he began to make his way out of the kitchen before Winry called out for him once again. 

“Ed? Can you set the table for me please?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!!! I worked very hard on this piece. It took me quite a bit of time to write because I was researching PTSD and how to care for someone having a PTSD attack - handwritten notes and all - so this could be as accurate as possible.
> 
> The artwork was done by [Fern](https://artsysimurgh.tumblr.com/) who WASN'T EVEN A PART OF THE ZINE!!! 
> 
> Once again thank you so so much for reading. Comments and Kudos are extremely appreciated!


	2. I'm Right Here

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Winry has a nightmare. Ed reassures her that nothing was real.

Ed was having a good night. He’d gone to bed early and hadn’t been interrupted by nightmares. He had drifted asleep snuggled up against his beautiful wife.

Speaking of being snuggled against his wife, he must have let her go during the night. In a half-asleep state, he’d rolled back over to wrap his arm around her. However, instead of being greeted by his wife’s smooth, warm skin, his hand had thud against the mattress.

He slowly opened his eyes and was greeted with the sight of an empty bed. The sheets had still been warm from her body heat - she must have just gotten out of bed and gone to the bathroom.

Disappointed, Ed closed his eyes again. Out of all the times for him to wake up and want to hold his wife, it had to be when she wasn’t there. 

Now that he thought about it, she had probably woken him up. In the past years, he’d gotten little sleep; whenever he did get to rest, he couldn’t be woken. But now that everything’s over, he’d gotten more than enough rest. It was so weird, even the slightest of movements could wake him.

He’d tried to go back to sleep but wanted to wait for Winry to return so he could get what he wanted. The soft ticking of the clock in the corner of their room told him how much time it’d been.

One minute.

Five minutes.

Ten minutes.

Once he counted to fifteen minutes, he began to get worried. She normally doesn’t take this long in the bathroom. Was she getting sick? 

Worried, Ed threw his legs over the side of the bed and put his slippers on. He headed to the bathroom and knocked.

“Winry?”

There was no answer.

“Are you alright?

There was no answer.

Edward’s mind began to race. His thoughts were assuming the worst. He felt his heart begin to beat through his chest and his throat close up.

“Winry, I’m coming in.”

He opened the door with a creak. He stepped into the bathroom and looked around. She wasn’t on the toilet nor on the ground throwing up. He checked behind the shower curtain and even in the closet.

The bathroom was empty.

“Where the hell is she?” He questioned anxiously.

He made his way out of the bathroom and checked all the rooms.

Empty.

Empty.

Empty.

Empty.

His anxiety really had started to skyrocket. He sped through the hall and headed towards the porch. Did she leave the house? Had someone broken in and taken her!? As he speed-walked through the house, he skid to a stop as he noticed the kitchen light on.

He had two questions. The first was why was the light on, and his second, how the hell had he missed that?

He quietly approached the kitchen. Half ready to attack, half ready to be relieved that he’d finally found her.

He was lucky. He didn’t have to sock someone in the face today.

She sat silently at the kitchen table grasping her favorite mug filled with thyme tea. Her shoulders slouched as she leaned over the table and her hair frazzled from sleep. The strong therapeutic aroma of oregano and clove blended together filled the air.

“Winry...there you are,” he said gently as he walked over.

Startled, her neck snapped backward. Her eyes were puffy and red and filled with fear. Ed’s own eyes widened at the sight. Slowly, her body began to relax as she realized she was in no danger and turned back to the table.

“Oh, Ed, I’m sorry. Did I wake you up?”

She wiped at her eyes in a futile attempt to dispel any signs that she had been crying.

“Winry? Are you alright? What happened?” 

Ed hurried over to her side and put both hands on her shoulders. He made her look at him. He stared straight into her bloodshot eyes. Her face looked ashamed that she has shown any signs of weakness. 

Ed’s eyebrows scrunched up in sadness and his lips formed a line, “Winry, what’s wrong? Did something happen?”

She diverted her eyes and shook her head.

“I’m fine. Don’t worry about it,” she smiled. Ed saw right through it. He knew all too well what a fake smile was. He’d spent years smiling - acting if everything was alright and being strong for his brother - despite the reality that guilt and sorrow were eating away at his insides. She couldn’t fool him.

“Win...you can talk to me,” he said as he sat down at the seat across from her, “Why are you crying?”

“It’s nothing. It’s just over something stupid,”

“Well,” he leaned over the table and brought his thumb to her eye to wipe a stray tear away, “If you’re crying like this then it can’t be that stupid.”

Winry was silent. She zoned out staring into the warm brown of her tea. Ed clasped his hands together as he patiently waited for her response.

“It was just a stupid nightmare...that’s all…”

Ed’s ears perked up as he heard her answer in a soft whisper, “A nightmare?” he questioned.

“Mm..”

The side of Ed’s mouth tilted up ever so slightly, “Win…,” he took her hands into his, “You think being upset about a nightmare is stupid? I’ve had nightmares almost every night for the past ten years. Whenever I have one when you’re there. You’re by my side until I can calm down. You really think I’d believe that crying over a nightmare is stupid?”

“Well…You have your reasons…” she trailed off, “Mine are uncomparable to what you deal with,”

He squeezed her hands tighter, “Win. I don’t care if you had a nightmare about something horrific or if you dreamt there was a giant purple bear chasing you,” that had gotten a breathy laugh out of her, “We all have our reasons. We’re all different people with different experiences. So please,” she looked up to him slightly and was met with warm, kind, golden eyes staring at her with all the love in the world, “Don’t compare your nightmares to mine.”

Winry was silent. She looked down at his hands enveloping hers, “It’s just…” she started, “I dreamed about that day.”

Ed cocked his head slightly, “What day?”

“The day Al brought you over after…” she didn’t want to say it. She couldn’t bare thinking about it right now.

Edward sighed, “I’m sorry…” he apologized. Winry’s head shot up and stared at him in disbelief.

“What? Why are you sorry?”

“Well...I mean...If that had never happened, you wouldn’t have nightmares about it.”

It was Winry’s turn to squeeze Ed’s hands, “It’s not your fault! Stop blaming yourself for what happened that night!”

“I...w-whatever!” he shook his head, “This isn’t about me. This is about you. Do you want to talk more about it?”

Winry’s eyes cast downwards once more, “I…” the words were caught in her mouth.

“You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to, but it’ll help.”

Winry closed her eyes and nodded. She took a deep breath in and exhaled slowly, “It’s just...I was remembering Al’s armor...it was just covered in blood. _Your_ blood. You-you were barely breathing. You didn’t have two of your limbs and Al was a 7ft walking, talking suit of armor…”

She let go of Ed’s hands and balled them in her messy blonde hair, “Everything was the same as it was in real life up until we had gotten you on the surgery table,” Her breathing was labored at this point. Ed looked at her with worry-filled eyes, “You bled out before we could do a transfusion. You died right in front of my eyes. Then Al had collapsed. I’d lost both of you in the span of one second.”

She’d fallen into hysterics. Large tears streamed down her face and her grip tightened in her locks. Each word that slipped past her lips was faster than the last.

“Winry,” a gentle voice brought her out from her thoughts, “It’s alright,” Ed stood behind her and one by one began loosened her fingers and brought her hands to her lap, “It’s alright. That must have been scary,” He rested his chin upon her shoulder and rubbed circled along her back.

Winry looked at him from the side of her eyes. Her face scrunched up buried her face in his golden hair, crying against it.

“It felt so real. It felt so real, Ed. You and Al were gone...I couldn’t handle it. I know it’s not real but…” her words choked in her mouth as she gasped for breath from crying.

“I know...I know,” He said as he rubbed her back, “I’m right here. I’m alright Win. Just let it out.”

Shh’s filled the air as he listened to her sobs. The tea on the table had long since gone cold and the sun’s light began to shine over the hills outside. Slowly the tears stopped streaming down her face, leaving their watery mark upon her cheeks.

“Thank you…” she whispered. She pulled away from him and twiddled her fingers. Ed stood looking over her. He rested his right arm on her head and pet her.

“You know I love you, right?”

Winry’s face darkened in embarrassment. A small smile grew on her face.

“I love you too…” she murmured.

“Do you want to go back to bed?” he asked.

Winry looked out the window and noticed how long it had been. “I’m sorry for keeping you up so long.”

“I don’t mind one bit. It was for you. Now,” Ed swiftly scooped her into his arms bridal style, “Let’s head to bed,”

Winry giggled and kissed his cheek, “Yeah. That’d be nice.”

They made their way to the bed and laid facing each other. Their limbs entwined, a sense of protection surrounded them. They lay safe in each other’s arms, feeling each other’s body heat. It didn’t take long for Winry to slip back into slumber. The crying had left her exhausted. 

This had all originally started from sleep.

Now, she slept without a care in the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the last of this! I'm sorry I didn't post it earlier. Some things had come up.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading! I'm proud of this piece and I hope you enjoyed it!! I'd had fun writing it!
> 
> If you like my writing, please do consider checking out my main fic, [The Bond We Share](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17313560/chapters/40726034)! Updates have been slow because of everything that has been going on, but I'm hoping that I can update more soon!
> 
> Thank you so so SO much for reading! Kudos and comments are immensely appreciated!!!


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